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Three decades after the state banned the harvesting of goliath grouper, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved plans that would allow about 200 of the fish to be killed annually.
Goliath grouper, which can grow to 800 pounds and more than eight feet in length, had been harvested in state waters since the late 1800s up until the 1990 ban.
Over the objections of dive operators, the commission voted to move forward with a draft rule allowing up to 200 fishing permits a year for juvenile goliath grouper, with the first harvest expected in 2023.
FWC Commissioner Robert Spottswood supports the limited harvest.
“This stock is rebuilding. We're hearing that it can easily sustain this very small harvest of fish. We're going to learn something from it, and more importantly, we're going to give some access that we can give safely.”
Dive operators including Donna Askew begged commissioners to keep the juvenile grouper from being caught, saying tourists travel to Florida to see and photograph the fish.
“They'll come and they'll spend the weekend diving with us and do the Goliath trips that we have. Then on Monday, they're going to Disney, they're going to SeaWorld.”
Fishing for goliath grouper would run annually from March 1st through May 31st in state waters outside of Southeast Florida.